Gone to the Dogs
by Tally Mark
Summary: Kagome needs help, and there's only one dog who can do it. In which Kagome learns a thing or two about dogs and Sesshoumaru learns a thing or two about fun. SessKag.
1. Chapter 1

Brace yourselves, people. This is another weird one! When I write too much angst I must counterbalance with something fun: hence, this very old story has been dredged back out of the depths of my hard drive. This will be a chaptered fic but not a long one, probably a handful of short-ish chapters. Be warned that it contains excessive pun usage and more lame dog jokes than you can fetch a stick with. And fluff. There's a plot secreted away in there too, but mostly bad puns and fluff.

And now, for something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike _Canis_.

* * *

Rin and Jaken never were acknowledged nor welcomed when they'd return from foraging, and they didn't expect to be. It was just not how things worked in their group. This time, however, when Seshoumaru heard the distant chatter of his ward and retainer, he turned from the sight of the glowing moon and stood in wait, watching their approach.

He could make out their voices and pick up their scent on the wind long before they came within sight, and so he was entirely unsurprised when three figures came into view rather than the two that had set out.

"Sesshoumaru-sama will be furious!" Jaken said, positively hopping with panic. "He has far more important things to do than be taking in mangy strays—" he paused at this—"and he already has one with you here, stupid human!"

"But Jaken—!"

"No buts!" He swung his staff down to point at the scruffy black dog at Rin's side. "Get rid of it before he sees it. Oh what has this lowly Jaken done to deserve this? He is surrounded by filth!"

"Hey," the dog said, "I'm not so keen on all this either, okay? And lay off on the kid or I'll bite you."

"But Jaken," Rin continued, having of course not understood the dog, "she was all alone and she was _hungry_, and she's such a pretty doggie."

"That's right," the dog said, "I'm lonely and hungry and I hate my life. Hate it, hate it, _hate it_." This last part came out as a low whine, and the dog itself seemed surprised by the sound of it. Rin immediately threw her arms around the dog's neck and hugged it with everything she had. The dog winced. "Aghh. I've got a rope-burn there. Please don't."

Jaken, who also did not understand dogs, shook his staff at the two of them. "And now you will have fleas! Oh, what will Sesshoumaru-sama say when I bring back two flea-bitten curs?"

Sesshoumaru did not say anything when they came into the camp. He stood, backlit by the moon, and leveled his gaze at them without a word.

This worried Jaken greatly.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin said as she led the dog to him, suddenly all meekness and smiles, "I found the most beautifulest doggie, and she was so hungry and she was tied up in some bad man's yard, and the man hated her and she was sad, so I saved her—" and then the clincher—"just like you saved Rin!" She smiled her very widest smile.

Sesshoumaru said nothing.

Jaken knew this was a very bad sign, and even Rin was becoming slightly concerned that perhaps Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't like her new dog quite as much as she did. The dog in question had stopped paying attention to the conversation long before they arrived. She was trying to teach Jaken a lesson using her teeth.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken cried, flinging himself at Sesshoumaru's black-booted feet—clearly, it would be up to him to save the both of them from the girl's mistake. "Sesshoumaru-sama, I told her not to bring this filthy beast! Forgive this foolish human for tainting your senses with it and forgive this worthless Jaken for allowing it!"

"—But _Sesshoumaru-sama_, Rin just—"

Sesshoumaru took a small step forward and the two fell quiet instantly.

His eyes, half-shining in the dark, slid over his ward and retainer to settle on the scraggly, scrawny, miserable beast that had been dragged into his camp. They narrowed. "Rin. You will build the fire. Jaken, you will assist."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin made to slink away, tugging the leash behind her.

During the sudden silence, the dog, who had been straining at her rope to snap at Jaken, seemed to notice her new company for the first time. She stopped and stared at him, long and hard.

"Come on, doggie," Rin urged, pulling harder, "we need to—"

"Leave it."

Rin opened her mouth, her eyes wide and dark and pleading, but Jaken gave his head a slight warning shake and she shut it again. As Jaken led her away she gave the dog one last look over her shoulder, giving it a reassuring smile.

The dog unfortunately did not catch the smile, for it was too busy gaping at the white lord before her.

Who, if it was possible, seemed rather taken aback himself.

Even an animal can smell the youki on a demon like Sesshoumaru, and most would flee beneath the gaze of a predator of that caliber. But the dog, instead, let out a low _whuff._

"Oh. You." The scruffy beast sat back on its haunches and seemed to heave a sigh. "Figures. I mean, since I've shown myself to be just _oh_-so-lucky, and what with the inherent irony of running into the Prince of _Dogs_, there was no way I could _not_ run into you, now that I look back on it."

Sesshoumaru watched the dog as it half-heartedly gave the raw sores on its neck a scratch.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He should probably kill the animal. He recognized trouble when he saw it.

"Should've realized the toad would bring me here," the dog muttered. "Been so long since I ate that my head is all woozy and swimmy." Then, brightly, "So, I don't suppose, being a dog yourself and all, you can speak dog?" A moment later it gave a yawn and, clearly used to running a monolog, continued. "No, I didn't think so. I mean, that would be something that could make my life _easier_, which is, like, against the laws of physics." Its lips pulled back in a snarl. "God I hate physics."

Sesshoumaru, who had stood contemplating what to do with the animal—which had yet to stop yipping and whining like a kicked puppy—let out a noise that, to the dog, sounded startlingly like a low sigh. The dog's jaw shut with an audible click.

In the following silence, the Lord of the West turned his attention to the starry sky. "This Sesshoumaru is entirely unsurprised," he said aloud to the heavens, "that Rin should choose to take in the loudest, filthiest, mangiest, and," his nose wrinkled just slightly, "smelliest beast this side of Kyoto."

"Hey," the dog huffed, "it's not my fault I look like this. And I think I'm a rather pretty dog."

"I was referring to your human self, miko."

"I don't care if—" The dog choked halfway through a bark. "You—you can understand me?"

Sesshoumaru, who in fact understood dogs perfectly well, arched one eyebrow.

"And…and you know who I am?"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and she got the sinking feeling she had insulted him.

"While I applaud your attempts to improve your species," he finally said, looking disdainful and not like he applauded anything about her at all, "you are not only still pathetically mortal, you are still, undeniably, yourself. Your own scent gives you away." He sniffed theatrically. "Even if it did not, my brother's stink on you would."

"Oh," Kagome said.

Then, to Sesshoumaru's astonishment, her tail began wagging. Brimming with a sudden energy, the miko pranced back and forth on her paws, giving him a canine grin.

"Oh! Thank god you're here—I didn't think I'd find anyone _ever_ who could understand me! You wouldn't believe the time I've had." Her eyes got a wild, haunted look to them. "A villager tried to eat me. A _real_ dog tried to—oh, lets not even go there. I'm _so_ _glad_ I ran into you." Kagome never thought she'd ever be glad to see the icy demon lord, but right now she was so happy she wanted to _weep_.

Unfortunately, her new body didn't quite know how to do that.

Maybe if she'd been able to find her friends after the fight—after _it_ had happened—she wouldn't be in such a state right now (aside from still being a dog). But having a marvelous canine nose was only well and good if you _knew_ what things were supposed to smell like, and being new to the canine persuasion, Kagome didn't have a damned clue. She had spent the first week alone and starving in the woods, and the second and third in the fields stealing from compost heaps, chased by strangers during the day and bitten at night by rats. It was no wonder she looked like she had mange.

Sesshoumaru regarded her for a long moment before responding. "This Sesshoumaru is certain," he said slowly, deliberately, "that the tale behind this is quite the interesting one."

She snorted. "Oh, yes. It's marvelous."

After a minute he lifted an eyebrow again, and she realized that he expected her to elaborate.

"Right. Er, well, we heard about a fox witch in the mountains who'd gotten her paws on a shard, so we went searching for her. And when we found her, Inuyasha…well, you know how he is, he just attacks without thinking…and I could feel that she was charging for some kind of spell…so…I sat him. And then…it hit me instead." She glanced up at his blank stare and quickly looked away, hoping dogs couldn't blush. "Pretty dumb, I know. The witch was pretty mad after that, and the spell hadn't kicked in, so I ran. Which got me lost…really lost." She heaved a sigh. "Then the spell took hold, and, well, _this_ happened. And, um…that's pretty much it."

She waited for some sort of condescending comment on all this, but realized, after another awkward silence, that there wasn't going to be one. She got the unpleasant feeling though that, as he got over his initial astonishment, he was beginning to find the situation _amusing_.

Bastard.

Kagome looked away, watching the leaves blow across the pale moon. Distantly, she thought that it all looked so different now. Colors were flattened and washed out, yet vibrant in a…_different_ way. It was alien, and beautiful, and frightening.

Turning back to him, she took a deep breath. "Please, you've got to help me. I have to find Inuyasha and my friends. I'm sure they can help me find a way to—to undo this. Kaede must know something. Please, I have to find them." Another deep breath. "I'll do anything. Please."

Sesshoumaru tilted his head, his glassy eyes lit with eyeshine like lanterns in the dark, making them unreadable. She guessed from his silence throughout her speech that he'd been expecting this request. But, there was no telling how he'd react to it. Suddenly she didn't know what she dreaded worse—refusal or acceptance. There were a number of fairly unpleasant things he could ask her to do that she probably should have taken off the table—never attacking him again seemed reasonable enough, but what about stealing Inuyasha's sword? Bringing back weapons from the future? Donating a kidney? (for culinary purposes of course).

The demon lord shifted, his bangs sweeping over his eyes for a moment, and then his gaze met hers and his eyes were back to normal: flat, bored, and cold.

Except—and she wasn't certain she wasn't imagining it—a gleam.

A dangerous gleam? An amused gleam? A you've-just-sold-your-soul-to-the-devil gleam? She couldn't tell but she was sure it was a very, very bad gleam, since it gave her a very, very bad feeling.

"I ask nothing in return." He turned on his heel and strode off to the camp.

_Huh?_

Kagome blinked. "Wait—what? _Nothing?_" Her brain fizzled around the concept. "But…why?"

He paused in his tracks and gave her a cold look over his shoulder.

"Um, I mean, not that I'm not _grateful_," she amended, tail between her legs, "it's just hard to understand why, ah, a great and powerful demon lord like yourself would, ah…"

"I will return you to your companions." Without another word he turned away and left.

Kagome stood there for a few minutes, blinking under the moon, then gave herself a shake and trotted carefully over to the small campfire Rin had built. Kagome slumped herself down a few feet away from her, casting a quick look at Sesshoumaru—who didn't look back—to make sure it was okay.

After the little girl shared a roast rabbit (had Sesshoumaru gone hunting for her?) with Kagome, she laid herself down as close to the fire as she dared, drinking in the luxurious warmth. It was only moments before, to her surprise, she felt Rin curl up against her side, burrowing into her ratty fur.

She supposed that, aside from Ah-Un, the girl didn't get much physical contact with people. More than glad to give some comfort, she draped her foreleg over Rin to share her warmth.

With the girl snuggled against her and the fire warming her fur, her eyes quickly grew heavy, and she found herself thinking, as she sank into sleep, that this wasn't so bad. She was safe, and _cozy_. And soon she would find Inuyasha and—

"I almost forgot," Rin said suddenly, sitting up, "I haven't given you a name." The girl tapped her chin in what, through Kagome's half-lidded eyes, was the cutest thing ever.

There was a dry rustle of silk from the other side of their encampment, past the edge of the firelight. "Her name is Kagome."

Kagome's sleepy mind thought that she ought to be pleased that he remembered her name, but it was mostly just puzzled. And warm. And sleepy. _Mmm._

"Oh," Rin said, looking at the ground. "I was going to call her Bitch."

Kagome shot awake.

A choking sound came from Jaken's direction.

Rin looked back and forth between the horrorstricken dog and the gasping toad, her face falling. "I just…my neighbor once had a really pretty dog, and the man always called her Bitch, and I really liked the dog so I thought…" She wrung her hands in her short kimono. "Never mind."

Kagome heard the soft shifting of cloth again from the dark behind them, too quiet for human ears to have picked up.

"You may call her that if you wish."

"But I thought you said her name was..."

"It is. However, 'bitch' is the term for an animal that is both female and a dog. The title is therefore appropriate. Indeed, it is very…suiting." His voice was low and smooth—_and deeply amused, _Kagome thought darkly—in the night air. "I am certain that she appreciates it."

Kagome glared at him. "You're an evil man."

Rin took her small bark as approval and threw her arms around her. "Oh, I'm so glad you like it, Kagome-Bitch!"

Kagome had to work very hard not to growl at the demon. With a half-hearted sigh, she circled a few times and slumped back to the ground. Rin burrowed into her side, falling asleep within minutes, but now Kagome was wide awake and stewing. "Bitch," she muttered. "Thanks so much. Don't you know not to kick a dog when it's down? Hmph."

"It's a dog-eat-dog world out there," he said in a mild voice.

She laid her ears back. "Oh, that was _really_ evil."

The silence was very smug.

"Hey…you wouldn't _really_ eat another dog, would you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, what the hey, it's the holidays...here you go.

* * *

Over the next few days, Kagome decided that being a dog wasn't as terrible as it first seemed when you had a bigger, meaner, stronger dog around to keep away the hungry villagers. However, though she rather enjoyed her new nose, her new speed and grace, and—just a _little_ _bit_—her tail, she missed her friends, and opposable thumbs, and having a conversation partner who was not Sesshoumaru.

She also thought she might have a flea.

They were trekking through the vast forests that bordered the West, as they had been since they set out. Sesshoumaru informed them on the first morning that the journey would take several weeks, and had not spoken to her since. Rin, on the other hand, was completely smitten with Kagome.

"Absolutely not," Kagome said again. She turned her nose up at the proffered branch.

"_Kagome-Bitch_, don't you want to play with me?" Her brows furrowed in a tiny frown. "Why won't you play fetch?"

"Rin, that stick is dirty and smelly and I can see little bugs on it. And it probably tastes just as bad as the first stick you offered, and the one after that, and the one after _that_. And—and I'll get splinters on my tongue!"

"Please, Kagome-Bitch?"

She rounded on the demon lord. "Dammit, Sesshoumaru. Help me out here."

Hah. Like that was really going to work

"Please," she whined. "Please. C'mon, don't make me use puppy eyes. Please." He continued walking with long, graceful strides, not even acknowledging her.

Kagome sighed. "Never mind. Forget it." She started to turn back to the girl, resigning herself to a mouth full of splinters that she didn't have any hands to remove, when she paused, and trotted after Sesshoumaru again.

"You know," she said, cocking her head at him, "maybe she wouldn't be this starved for attention if you played with her a little bit. I mean, I know you're caring for her in your own way, but she's just a kid. She needs this sort of thing." Kagome frowned. "Besides, aren't you a dog? I mean, I know I'm a dog too, but I'm a _pretend_ dog. You're a real dog. Shouldn't play be kind of…natural?"

He gave her a withering stare.

"Um. Never mind again. I'm, um, just going to go play fetch now."

Ears flattened, she quickly retreated to the safety of Rin's side.

She might have been a bit hazardously flippant with him the other day, but at the time, it hadn't seemed to matter anymore. What could he do to her? She was already a dog, one dangerously close to becoming a dead dog; the worst he could do was finish the job for her. Besides, being half-starved did that sort of thing to her.

But now that it looked like she stood a decent chance of surviving, and maybe even being de-dogged, she really didn't want to push her luck.

Really though. It was like the demon was allergic to fun.

* * *

Six hours later found Kagome in the middle of a field, sitting on her haunches, wrapped from nose to tail in flowers.

"Stop laughing at me," she mumbled, giving the demon lord a sullen look.

"I did not make a sound," he responded blandly.

"You're laughing with your eyes." Kagome sneezed from the pollen dusting her snout. This was just too much. Her nose itched. And her fur. She was certain she felt something crawling around under there beneath the flowers. At this rate she wouldn't just have fleas, she'd have _bees!_

She'd been happy enough to humor Rin at first, and had pranced and modeled her flowery wreaths like a show dog, to the girl's endless delight. But Rin, she had soon learned, was a devout follower of the philosophy _more is better_. Several hundred flowers later, Kagome didn't resemble a dog so much as a parade float.

"First I get turned into a dog—as if that wasn't bad enough on its own," she muttered, "then I was starved, hunted, kicked, and tied up in somebody's backyard. _Then_, the only person in the whole world who can talk to me is too much of a grumpyhead to actually _say_ anything." She glared from the corners of her eyes. "A grumpyhead who, in an act of unspeakable cruelty, did nothing to stop a poor helpless dog from getting her fur brushed the wrong way for two hours today."

The moment she was back to normal, she was going to apologize to Buyo for all the times she wronged him during her childhood. Having one's fur brushed backwards made her skin_ crawl_.

"And who also did not save a poor dog from playing horsie, even though there was a perfectly good dragon steed available. Let us also not forget the worm incident." Kagome shuddered. "And _now_, to top it all off, I'm being turned into a living bouquet!" she finished with a long whine.

Something that sounded suspiciously like laughter emanated from Jaken's direction.

Kagome bristled, feeling a hot flush of embarrassment under her fur.

"That's it," she growled, getting to her feet. "I'm done being the big joke." With a hard shake she sent the flowers flying off her. Stalking to the other side of the fire, she sat on her haunches with her back towards them, wishing desperately to be back home with her friends. Nobody here seemed to care that she didn't _like_ being humiliated all the time. Nobody seemed to care that she was a little too _scared_ to find this funny. And they certainly didn't seem to care that maybe she was going to be stuck as a stupid dog forever and ever.

As she stewed silently, she heard Rin get up and move farther away. "Sesshoumaru-sama?" the little girl said a minute later. Kagome could hear her hands twisting; hear her feet scuffing the grass. There was a pause. "Does Kagome-Bitch not like Rin?"

Kagome whirled around.

The child stood next to the where the taiyoukai sat in the grass, legs folded elegantly beneath him. Her back was to Kagome, but the miko could see the side of her face enough to know that the girl was biting her lip and looking uncharacteristically shy.

"What gives you reason to believe she does not, Rin?" Sesshoumaru asked, and his eyes slid to the side and looked past Rin, locking gazes with Kagome.

Kagome felt sick.

"Rin tries to make her happy, but she can never get it right," the girl said unhappily, keeping her voice down, and it was obvious she thought that Kagome couldn't hear—and had Kagome still been human, she indeed would have been out of hearing range. "Rin tries and tries. But Kagome-Bitch is still sad. Maybe…maybe she is unhappy _because_ of Rin?"

"Why, how very strange," he said mildly, and his eyes were like blades cutting into Kagome's heart. "One would expect most creatures to be happy to have been saved from certain harm…if not outright grateful for it."

Kagome reeled internally, feeling ill, and for once was glad she had four legs to hold her up. He was right. All she had done since she arrived was complain about how much she hated being a dog, like it was the most awful thing in the world. And worse—who was she complaining about it to, but a dog! What sort of awful person must she seem like to him, insulting his species to his face? And worse: she'd been so sour that even Rin had noticed. And the poor girl blamed herself.

It wasn't like her to be this negative, and she didn't like it. She was letting her fear turn her into something she wasn't. And, now that she thought about it, here she was not only saved from becoming…well, _dogmeat_… she was being given an experience no other human would ever have. How many people had the chance to view the world through a dog's eyes? She shouldn't be miserable, she should be…excited!

From now on, she was going to make an effort to appreciate the chance she'd been given. But first, she had to fix this.

Kagome nosed her way into one of the fallen flower wreaths, then padded slowly up to Rin, head down. She gave her hand an apologetic lick and then nuzzled it. The girl stood there, looking confused, so Kagome picked up another wreath in her jaws and sat up on her hind legs, tail wagging.

"You want to wear your flowers again?" Rin asked. Kagome barked in agreement and Rin completely lit up. "Okay! Rin will help!"

She immediately set about gathering up her flowers again. Kagome took the opportunity to turn back to the youkai lord, who still sat silently, looking solemn and unfathomable.

"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru," she said softly. "You're right. You guys saved me, and I haven't been appreciative enough of that. The very least I can do in return is be a good playmate." She smiled sheepishly. "I guess turning into a dog has made me a bit of a bitch, huh?"

Sesshoumaru stared at her. She didn't know whether that was a good sign or not.

Kagome took a deep breath. "And…I'm sorry for all those awful things I said, about being a dog. I didn't mean it like that. I didn't. I'm just…scared, I guess," she admitted, looking away. "And while I still hold that she wouldn't be this hyper if _you'd_ play with her too," she continued, feeling she had to get another word in about that while she could, "as long as I'm here, I'll be happy to do so." She brightened. "I've really been looking at this all the wrong way. Being a dog could be fun!"

Sesshoumaru didn't respond. He just kept staring at her, gold eyes unblinking and intense. _Staring_. It was rather unnerving. She wondered if he always looked at people like this or if it was just her.

Pulling herself from such odd and disturbing thoughts, she turned her attention towards Rin as the little girl returned with an armload of blossoms. Soon Kagome was fully garbed in flowers again, with some sprigs of clover thrown in for good measure. She felt a bit like a chia pet.

The muffled snerks and snickers coming from Jaken's direction increased in volume.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru said calmly. The toad froze and went very pale. "I believe that Jaken is feeling left out."

Oh! She _knew_ it. His sense of humor was _evil_.

Rin squealed happily and ran to get new flowers, apologizing to Jaken-sama for neglecting him so. The toad sputtered and squawked and tried to fend her off, but before long was decked out in his own flowery attire. Sulking in his pretty pink-petaled crown, with a huge white garland wrapped around his shoulders in a manner reminiscent of Sesshoumaru's white pelt.

Kagome giggled. Which to most of the group probably didn't sound like a giggle at all, but nevertheless, the general attitude of it seemed to get through.

Jaken fluffed up his garland of white flowers. "At least this Jaken is still better looking than a mangy miko-dog," he muttered, nose held high.

Kagome's jaw went slack. "Oh! You did not just say that!" Indignant, she rounded on the demon lord, her fur ruffled up. "Did you hear what he just said? Sesshoumaru, you tell him I said I'm better looking _and_ more cuddly than him!

Sesshoumaru turned away with a disdainful sniff, as if to say, _This Sesshoumaru is the only one here of acceptable appearance_.

Hmph. Conceited dog.

Even if it was true.

"I'm still the most cuddly though," she murmured to herself. Sesshoumaru's big fluffy shoulder-wrap didn't count no matter _how_ huggable it looked, on account of the prickly demon attached to it. Though as Rin dashed by with another armload of flora, Kagome acknowledged that the little girl might have her beat.

Who would have ever thought she'd find herself in such strange company? Her prior less-than-cordial encounters with the demon lord had left her unprepared for her current situation. She didn't know what she'd expected Inuyasha's frigid brother and his companions to be like in close quarters, but it wasn't this. Despite their stoic leader, they were a lively group. It was almost…pleasant. Different than when she was with her friends, but not in an entirely unlikable way. Even with Mister Antisocial as the leader.

With a canine yawn Kagome settled herself into the grass near the taiyoukai's feet (as near as she dared, anyways). It was the perfect vantage point from which to watch Jaken and Rin's antics play out.

And as their yelping and laughter rose in the chilly evening air, with the solid presence of the taiyoukai at her back, a strange sort of contentment spread through her, and she somehow found herself looking forward to the journey almost as much as the destination.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all for your kind reviews! It's a relief to know people are enjoying a story as strange as this one.

A few people have asked me if it's okay to draw fanart for my stories. The answer is YES. Yes, yes, and yes. (Really, I think every author's secret dream is to have people draw them pictures). All I ask is that you credit me with the source idea and, most importantly, send me a link so I can see! On that note, Hikari Hime has done a piece of fanart for this story (you can view it by going to deviantart through her profile). Thank you Hikari!

Also, some people have expressed concern that I'm dropping _Canis_: Don't worry, it hasn't been abandoned. It's just a lot more complicated to write for than this one. Thank you all for being patient while I get this silliness out of my system.

Here, have some silliness.

* * *

They never traveled on the roads, instead following long, winding trails through the wilderness that only Sesshoumaru could see. Or perhaps he scented out the way; she wondered sometimes if he had his whole territory mapped out by scent alone. The youkai led his entourage through the foothills of mountains and the fringes of valleys; alongside rivers and wild marshes.

They avoided villages, too, only approaching at night to let Rin raid the fields and rice paddies. Not that he would ever admit to accommodating her in such a way, oh no. Nor would he bother to deny it. Odds are, he wouldn't even acknowledge he heard the question.

"You don't make any sense," she told him, trotting up to his side. The morning grass was damp under her paws. "And," she added, deciding she may as well go with complete disclosure, "it drives me nuts."

"Imagine that," he said blandly, not taking his eyes from the deer path ahead of them. "We have something in common."

"You mean besides us both being dogs?" Her tail wagged.

The taiyoukai declined to comment, but of course, she knew by now not to take it personally. Sesshoumaru didn't talk much to anyone, she came to realize as the days went by. He would listen to Rin's chatter with a look of serene detachment, would listen to Jaken's babblings with a look of supreme boredom, and…well, mostly he just didn't listen to her at all.

It bothered her.

It bothered her more than when she'd thought he was just singling her out for the silent treatment. Their group dynamic didn't make any sense—it clearly revolved around him, and yet, it was like he wasn't a part of it. Rin and Jaken obviously didn't see it that way; the youkai was their entire world. But his followers were like a sea of noise splashing all around him, while he was a stone in the sea. Nothing they did could change him, and he did nothing to change them.

Except, they obviously did _something_ for him. He didn't just allow their chatter; he actively observed it. Even if he liked to pretend that he didn't (but nothing got past her new keen canine senses!).

He was an outsider in his own group. It didn't make any sense.

He didn't make any sense.

And it really got under her skin.

It made Kagome want to do something crazy just to make him yell at her. Like…like dig up holes in his flower garden! She was sure he didn't actually have a flower garden, but if he did, she would so totally ruin it. In fact, she'd bury his stupid swords in it, and then he'd be sorry he didn't talk more.

Maybe she could chew on his shoes. Did he ever take them off? Chewing them while they were still on was probably a little suicidal.

Kagome frowned inwardly. Shoes were for _wearing_, not eating. She was human and she did not have _any_ interest in gnawing on footwear. Even if it was made out of nice chewy leather. Were his shoes made of leather? It was hard to smell them over his own smell; a nice, clean, earthy sort of scent.

Curiosity overwhelming her, she found herself drifting nonchalantly towards his possibly-made-of-leather shoes.

"Miko, while this Sesshoumaru is gratified that you at last know your proper place—groveling at my boots—if you are actually planning to lick them, I shall have to take action."

"I wasn't going to lick them," she denied, jerking back with as much dignity as she could muster. "I only wanted to sniff them."

He arched a sculpted brow. Kagome flushed under her fur.

"To see if they were leather," she elaborated.

"I see," he said, in a way that told her he did not believe a word of it. She gave him a dirty look and decided she wasn't going to talk to him anymore. But after a few intense minutes of endless, agonizing suspense, she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Are they?" she blurted.

The look he cast her over his shoulder guard was either intense disbelief or intense displeasure. "Are _what?_"

"Are they leather?"

"No."

"Oh." Another pause. "What are they, then?"

"Perhaps you should lick them and find out," he drawled lightly.

"Oh!" she fumed. "I'd rather lick Jaken than _you_." She turned up her nose. "I wouldn't lick you even if you asked. You're completely unlickable. The most unlickable person in the world."

"This Sesshoumaru is most relieved."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It's awful tempting to bite you though," she retorted.

"It would be wise to keep your teeth to yourself," he advised. "Do not forget that unlike you, miko, this Sesshoumaru is all bite, and no bark."

He had that right, she thought. He was definitely a man of actions—deadly ones—and not words. "Hey, wait a second," she said a moment later, giving him a suspicious look. "Are you implying that I'm all bark and no bite?"

"I am implying that you bark incessantly."

"I do _not_ talk too much. You just don't talk enough. You're so reserved I have to talk twice as much to make up for your lack of talking."

She thought she may have heard a sigh, but it must have been the wind.

"I was only joking about biting you, anyways," she said with a small grin. "You're poisonous. I bet you taste horrible."

The look he slanted her through his feathery white bangs spoke volumes, if she only knew how to translate them. What was funny was that it was nearly identical to his normal deadpan countenance. The changes were so minute she'd have probably never noticed them if she wasn't a dog. But his face wasn't carved of marble like she'd once thought it was.

Sesshoumaru continued his predatory stride through the trees, and after a minute Kagome grew confused. What? No witty retort? No cleverly crafted insults, no haughty word plays? Her tail drooped. _Guess he got bored_. And just when she was starting to enjoy herself.

"Oh, come on, I said it was a joke," she said, worried that maybe she had struck a nerve somehow. "I didn't mean it, really." Another minute of silence passed. She felt a pang of anxiety. "Come on, you know what a joke is, right?" Her tail gave a friendly wag, inviting him to continue the conversation. "Right?"

Her heart sank as she realized the moment was over. He'd gone back into his shell, just as unexpectedly as he'd left it. He was such an enigma, really. The only time he ever seemed to take off his aloof mask was when he was entertaining himself in some fashion—generally at someone else's expense, what with his totally deranged sense of humor. It was…sad. So much unfathomable power, yet he seemed bored with his own existence. Is this what came of living so long? Do you just eventually lose interest in…everything? Or was he always this way?

"Have you always been like this?" she asked on impulse.

No answer.

"Sesshoumaru? Are you still listening?" Kagome bounded around in front of him. "Aw, please don't stop now. This is the longest conversation I've had all week. _Please?_" She unleashed her very most saddest puppy eyes. "Please? I'm begging here."

Clearly, Sir Grumpiness had used up his quota of words for the year and was done. But his reluctance only made her want to dig her teeth in harder and drag him back. And maybe wrestle a bit. And chew on something.

"Oh! Wait a sec!" Kagome bounced on her paws, grinning a huge doggie-grin. Her tail swished about. "You still haven't told me what your shoes are made of!"

"The tanned hide," he said airily, his eyes still fixed on the horizon before him, "of a miko who would not shut up. So that I may crush it beneath my feet wherever I go."

Kagome stopped in her tracks, all four feet frozen.

"You…you just made a _joke!_" she said in awed delight, feeling inexplicably happy. "You did!"

He turned and arched an aristocratic brow.

"_Ahaha_," Kagome laughed nervously, prancing away. "I'll, _ah_…I'll just walk over here now." Kagome remembered, belatedly, that she wasn't supposed to be pushing her luck. Right. She was going to be a good dog—a good _girl_, she corrected herself quickly, _a good girl_—and not antagonize the big mean demon man. Much.

But as they continued on in silence and she studied him through the periphery of her vision, watching the vague shadow of amusement in his eyes, it seemed to Kagome that he enjoyed provoking her just as much as she enjoyed provoking him.


	4. Chapter 4

People have been asking: What kind of dog is Kagome? The answer is that she's some sort of mutt. Not a little dog, and not a very distinctive/specialized breed. She has floppy ears. I usually picture her as something akin to a black lab in build (with maybe a hint of german shepherd in the face), but with very fluffy/feathery ears and scruffy fur. But really, her breed doesn't matter and she is however you choose to picture her.

(...The truth is that I don't actually know a lot of dog breeds. I've always had cats!)

Thank you as always for your kind words everyone.

* * *

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-_sama!" _Jaken cried, hopping towards him through the underbrush. The tiny youkai came to a skidding halt and waved something in front of his nose. "Sesshoumaru-sama, look what these mongrels did to your father's heirloom staff!"

Silently, Sesshoumaru's gaze trailed down it. A deep, splintery crack ran lengthwise down the shaft, fracturing further at the neck. Reaching smoothly to take it in his hand, Sesshoumaru tapped the base of the staff on the ground. The female head coughed up a wispy trickle of smoke, then grimaced at him.

Wordlessly, Sesshoumaru's eyes slid over to the two figures slinking into view.

Rin and the miko exchanged a guilty glance; the latter's ears flattening. The two humans had become partners in crime ever since that day in the field, and were now as inseparable as if they had come from the same litter.

"We were only playing fetch," Kagome said in a small voice, tail between her legs. "I didn't think it would break."

"This Jaken was unworthy of carrying the staff," Jaken moaned in palpable despair. "Forgive this lowly Jaken!"

"I'm really sorry," the miko continued. "I'll, um…I'll get you a new one?"

The taiyoukai passed the staff back to his retainer and pivoted on his heel. "It can be mended," Sesshoumaru said, tiring of both the conversation and the delay. They'd hardly covered any ground today, thanks to the rain—why were mortals so daunted by water?—and the weather looked to get worse, not better. "We will continue."

"Oh, would that this worthless Jaken had been able to stop the mangy miko in the first place," Jaken mumbled to himself as they all began moving again.

Generously, Sesshoumaru allowed him a few more moments to realize that his continued babbling was ruining a perfectly good silence. A silence he had been _enjoying_.

But when Jaken continued his verbal self-flogging, the taiyoukai flicked a loose stone into the air with the toe of his boot, caught it in his hand, and casually tossed it over his shoulder. It struck Jaken square on the forehead.

The miko gave him a disapproving stare down her muzzle. "That wasn't nice," she said.

"No," he agreed. "It was efficient."

She muttered something unfavorable, which he chose not to hear, and then she left his side to go retrieve Jaken. He knew that she'd be back to yapping in his ear the moment the imp regained consciousness, but for the moment, her mouth was full of Jaken's robes and he had his silence at last.

It was strangely unsatisfying.

Disturbed, Sesshoumaru increased his stride.

If her situation weren't so entertaining, he probably would have lost his patience with her by now. He so rarely found things amusing. Oh, certainly there were little moments to be found—terrorizing his half-sibling, terrorizing his retainer, terrorizing impudent lesser youkai…but this was _different_.

Her predicament was just so bizarre, so ironic, so…laughable. _Silly_, even. And the miko herself was such an inconceivably, unfathomably silly creature.

Had he ever found anything silly before? He honestly couldn't remember.

It put him in a strange, light mood.

Nevertheless, his mood was beginning to waver and his amusement was being strained to its limits by the fact that the miko seemed determined to flout his personal bubble. He couldn't correct her the way he would with Jaken without accidentally killing her—what with mortals being so ridiculously fragile—and she apparently saw his laxness as invitation to insert herself into his every waking moment and every waking thought.

And now what had started as a light afternoon drizzle was turning into an evening downpour. Rain always put him on edge. It smothered all scent and drove it into the ground, and the world was flat and foreign without it. He didn't fear it, but he didn't like it, either.

Even the miko seemed to be unsettled by the dampening of her new canine senses.

"I can't smell anything," she told him, in following with her innate need to state the obvious. Her ears went back. "Except me. And I smell like wet dog."

He didn't dignify that with a response.

"And you, of course. You smell like…wet cat."

Sesshoumaru halted in mid-step.

She gave him a huge canine grin. "Sorry. I just wanted to see if I could get a reaction out of you. Don't worry, you smell like wet dog too."

Sesshoumaru sighed a sigh that spoke of endless suffering, and continued on.

The overcast sky was just beginning to darken with nightfall as he at last located a cave set into the rocky foothills. Water sluiced across the opening in broad rivulets, but when he led them inside the interior was dry. Kagome promptly shook herself out and sprayed water droplets all over him.

"Oops," she said, ducking her head in embarrassment. Her tail gave a sheepish wag. "Sorry."

"Hm," he said mildly, threading youki through his shoulder pelt. The pelt smoothly lifted into the air and wrung itself out. "No need to apologize," he said, stepping away from the sodden miko who had been beneath it. Folding his legs under him, he took a seat by the cave's entrance and closed his eyes.

The miko let out an indignant huff, and padded away as she and Rin took shelter deeper in the cave, away from the wind. As their voices grew quieter, Sesshoumaru leaned back against the cool stone, listening to the rain rushing outside. Thunder boomed in the distance.

It wasn't long before he heard the miko padding up to him again. "Sesshoumaru?" she said tentatively, the worry tangible in her voice. "Ah and Un don't look so good." A weighted pause. "I don't think they're feeling well."

He opened his eyes. Rising to his feet, he strode to the back of the cave where Rin hovered fretfully over the dragon. Ah tried unsteadily to raise his head at Sesshoumaru's approach, his neck swaying as though it were too heavy to hold up. Un groaned from the floor, not even attempting to greet his master.

Sesshoumaru unbuckled the first head's halter and slid off the black enameled muzzle. He narrowed his eyes at the heavy, sour smell wafting from the dragon's mouth.

Unbelievable.

"He's drunk," he said, voice clipped.

"_Drunk?" _Kagome echoed, sitting up on her hind paws to get a better look. "How does a _dragon_ get drunk?"

"He has consumed fermented fruit," he elaborated, tightly. His gaze slid to hers.

The miko's ears flattened.

"You accompanied him as he grazed today," Sesshoumaru continued. He stared piercingly at the miko. "You did not notice anything unusual about the scent of his fodder?"

"I thought it was just some weird youkai food…" she mumbled apologetically, tail between her legs. "Oh, don't give me that look. How am I supposed to know what fermented anything smells like? I've never even tasted sake before."

Absolutely unbelievable.

"Can't you do something?" The miko looked soulfully up at him. Sesshoumaru deliberately turned away from those pleading eyes.

"He is intoxicated, not ill," Sesshoumaru stated. "He will recover by tomorrow. The discomfort is what will teach him not to do it again."

"But he _feels_ ill," Kagome said plaintively, her body language genuinely distraught. He could literally smell the anxiety rolling off her. Truly, the dragon's physical misery paled in comparison to the emotional misery she was inflicting upon herself. Sesshoumaru did not understand humans at all. "He looks like he's really in pain."

"And what, pray tell, do you expect this Sesshoumaru to do about it?" he drawled.

The question had been rhetorical but she seemed to think it was serious. "I don't know…" Kagome said, looking troubled. "I mean…aren't there medicinal plants that could make his stomach feel better, or something?"

"Yes."

"Really?" the miko said, ears perking up, eyes brightening.

Sesshoumaru stared, confused by her reaction. He couldn't understand why the miko seemed so unaccountably pleased by his answer. She wasn't actually expecting him to go _get_ it, was she? The dragon was in no danger. Sesshoumaru would not have allowed that. Letting the creature taste its own folly seemed only a fitting reprimand.

The miko's tail wagged hopefully. As if on cue, the dragon groaned again.

"Is Ah-Un going to be okay, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin interrupted, unaware of the discussion he was holding with the miko. She gazed up at him with her heart shining in her eyes. Her lip trembled.

Sesshoumaru wondered if they were all conspiring against him. Traitors. He really ought to kill them all. Or something.

"Think of it this way," Kagome added helpfully. "Do you want to be around if he throws up?"

_Hn. A valid point_, he reluctantly conceded, lip twisting in distaste. Fastidious to a fault, the thought of a sick dragon in such closed quarters—a _two-headed_ sick dragon—was not a pleasing one. "Jaken," he said at last. "Stand watch."

The toad nodded fervently. Sesshoumaru stepped towards the entrance, pausing to scent the air. From the corner of his eye he could see the miko tilting her muzzle, confusion writ across her features.

"I will return shortly." And with that, Sesshoumaru stepped out into the rain and vanished in the darkness of the forest.

* * *

Kagome sat by the entrance for a while, waiting for Sesshoumaru to come back. When she realized that, wherever he had gone to retrieve the plants from, it would take some time, she sighed and padded back to the others, lowering herself to the ground beside Ah-Un.

"Don't worry, you'll feel better soon," she told them, giving the pair an encouraging nuzzle. "Us quadrupeds have to stick together, right?" She knew what it was like now to not have a voice. And she at least had Sesshoumaru to talk to…the dragon only had itself. Somebody had to speak up for him.

The dragon grumbled in appreciation and curled their tail around her. Seeing this, Rin made a happy noise and clambered over the dragon's legs, burrowing into the furry, scaly heap they made. Kagome gladly made room for her, resting her chin atop Rin's head. Warmth soaked through them, their shared body heat warding off the chill of the cold stone.

"Hey," Kagome said, noticing Jaken standing off on other side of the cave, by himself. The toad's eyes slid her way. "Do you want to join us?" she offered. He had to be cold over there, all alone, with no fire…Remembering that he couldn't actually understand her, she shifted over to make a space for him, patting it awkwardly with her paw. She wagged her tail.

Jaken snorted and looked away sharply, obviously getting the message. And declining.

Man, did all youkai have people issues, or was it just these guys?

Kagome sighed and turned her muzzle back towards the entrance, watching the rain come down outside. "I hope Sesshoumaru comes back soon," she mumbled. She felt bad that he was out in the rain while they were warm and dry inside. Even though she knew he didn't care about the wet, she felt bad _anyway_. Especially since he was out doing something nice. Did he even realize he was being nice? Probably not.

She really wished he'd get back though.

She glanced at the cave opening again. Nope. Not back yet. Didn't he say he'd be back shortly? But then, what constituted "shortly" for a being whose lifespan was counted in centuries instead of years? He might see days as only moments.

A whine tickled the back of her throat; she firmly shoved it back down and swallowed it. It tasted empty and cottony.

Ears drooping, Kagome put her head down and resigned herself to a long and lonely wait.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright: I lied. There _is_ a plot. From this point on more serious moments will begin to infect the story (Don't worry. There will still be humor and hijinks. Just spread out a little). Er...I'm sorry?

* * *

She came awake all at once, fur standing on end.

Looking wildly about, Kagome tried to find what had roused her, but her companions all dozed quietly, exactly as they had been before she drifted off. The cave was still and dark.

The feeling of dread grew, gnawing at her stomach lining. She found herself struggling out from between Ah-Un and Rin, the urge to be on her feet sending her pacing about the cave in a nervous circle. Anxiety clawed at her.

_Something was wrong. _She could _smell_ it.

Standing before the entrance, Kagome stared out into the dark. The rain had lightened to a misty shower while she slept, the stars still hidden behind the clouds. It was almost pitch, but her canine vision painted the rocky clearing in inhuman clarity, filled with sharp, saturated colors. Scanning the tree line for movement, she found nothing but shadows.

There was something out there.

"Sesshoumaru?" she said tentatively, hoping that maybe it was just the youkai returning. The thing she sensed felt both familiar and foreign, the details damped out by the rain. It was an unsettling combination, like fur rubbed the wrong way. _Like being watched by eyes you can't see._ "Is that you?"

There was no answer.

Kagome hesitated. The human in her urged her to go back inside and hope it would go away, but the dog in her knew better. It knew there was no point in hiding when you'd already been found. It knew when they were being _hunted_.

Before she could stop herself she was leaving the cave, giving her sleeping companions one last glance before stepping out into the wet night. Padding carefully over the rocks, she stopped halfway across the clearing, the ground sloping down ahead of her before rising again to greet the dark treeline. The fur on the back of her neck prickled.

And then the darkness moved, and she saw them.

There were three. Standing there like lean shadows, their yellow eyes lit up with nightshine. They were gray, and shaggy, and oh so much larger than she was.

Wolves. Mortal wolves.

_Real_ wolves.

"Stay back!" she barked, planting her paws in a defensive stance.

"We hunt," they answered. "We hunt, we hunt." They grinned great wolf grins.

"Not here you don't," she growled, lips pulling back over her teeth as a snarl rose from somewhere in her chest. She felt her hackles rising. "Hunt somewhere else."

"We smell the human pup," the wolves said, their voices eerily twining over each other like curls of smoke. Their lupine smiles grew wider, saliva glistening on their teeth. "We smell it and we hunt it and we _hunger_," added the wolf in front, stepping forward out of the trees ("_Hunger, hunger_," echoed the pair that flanked it).

Kagome's heart froze. _Rin_. They were hunting _Rin_. Fear and fury rose up in her chest. "Go get your own human," she barked out, crouching instinctively. "This is _my_ territory. Get out or I'll—I'll fight you!"

"We hunt," they said again, taking another long-legged stride towards her.

"I said stay back!" she snapped, but they only stepped forward again, smiling those jagged wolf smiles. _They aren't listening!_ she thought, feeling the first sharp edges of panic. She couldn't reason with them, she realized. She could talk to them but she couldn't make them understand—they weren't human and they didn't think like a human. They were just animals.

Something moved in her peripheral vision. Kagome whipped her head around, ready to bite, and found herself staring in disbelief at Jaken.

The little youkai stood beside her, staring forward, grimly clutching the staff of heads. "You and I don't get along," he said in a wavering voice, not taking his eyes off the wolves, "But I know you can understand me, miko-dog, so—so you _listen to me_." His webbed hands tightened around the staff. She could see he was shaking. "If you let them harm a single hair on Lady Rin's head—just _one_ hair—I'll have your mangy skin as a rug! You understand?"

Kagome dipped her chin in a solemn nod.

Yes, they understood each other. Kagome had never been counted amongst the strong, and she suspected neither had Jaken. They were the worst people possible for the job. But Ah-Un was down and Sesshoumaru was away. Defending Rin had fallen to them.

And defend her they would.

Humbled by the fierce devotion shining in his eyes, Kagome turned back to face the trees, steeling herself. The rain kicked up and as it did the wolves began slinking down the hillside, flowing like water over the rocks. Faster and faster, till their loping run became a dark river rushing at her.

Paws pounding the earth, Kagome surged forward to meet them.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you all for your kind reviews, as always. I'm really happy that people seemed to like the moment of camaraderie between Kagome and Jaken. Truth be told, I actually like his character a lot. Grumpy little fellow just needs some special attention.

And okay, I know the cliffhanger was a little evil, but c'mon...it's, uh...it's not like I do cliffhangers all that often...

Don't hurt me.

* * *

Lightning cracked through the air, illuminating the clearing. In that moment they were both night-blind and the dog dove out of the way as the wolf crashed only fractions of a second behind her. Rounding, she lunged and tore at its flanks, only to be thrown off by a blow of its forepaws. Serrated teeth snapped in her wake as she sprang back.

Rain sliced down around them. The grass was slick. Bristling, the dog retreated further, trying to get some distance between them. Everything was movement. It was all too fast, no time for thoughts—only act and react, reflex and instinct. Bite and strike and snap!

They were circling each other now. Larger and heavier, the wolf was less agile but in close-quarters it would tear her apart. She had to be light on her paws. Ducking her head, she searched for an opening, not daring to take her eyes off the wolf. Her breath came in rapid pants.

She barked in surprise as the wolf struck again, rearing back on her hind limbs. Her claws raked its muzzle but it surged forward, up onto its own hind legs and then they were grappling with each other, snapping and clawing. Snarling ripped through the air. She bit at the thick fur of its neck but couldn't reach the skin; the wolf twisted and sunk its own teeth into her ear. With a yelp of pain she jerked free, losing her balance—

The breath jolted out of her as she crashed to the ground on her back.

In a heartbeat the wolf was on her. The dog thrashed and howled, trying to twist free as the wolf tore into her. Her howls turned into screams as jaws closed over her exposed throat—as teeth sank in—

And suddenly the teeth were gone as the wolf was ripped bodily off her. Standing over her was a creature of blazing white, blood dripping in red rivulets down the arm that was impaled through the wolf's ribcage. With a crisp, vicious movement he snapped his arm out to the side, sending the carcass flying away. It smacked wetly against the rock.

Surveying the carnage, Sesshoumaru grimly swept his eyes over the rainy battlefield. The miko panted heavily beside him, her right ear shredded. There were dark splashes across her muzzle. He located his retainer on the far side of the clearing, busy bludgeoning a second wolf with the broken staff, seemingly unaware that his adversary was already deceased. A third wolf lay a short distance away, speared through the neck by a jagged branch. The canine tooth marks at the base of the branch marked this last one as the miko's handiwork. Sesshoumaru was silently impressed.

The taiyoukai paused. He turned back to the miko in question with a frown, sensing something amiss.

She was barking at the wolf he just dispatched. Just barking and barking, without any words to it at all. Nothing but sounds, made up of fear and anger but empty of meaning.

"Miko," he said, the word a clear command.

She didn't respond.

"Miko," he said again, sharper. Concern and unease mingled in his chest as she continued her senseless barking. The unfamiliar feeling frayed at his nerves. "Kagome!" he barked out, demanding she answer.

The miko stilled at the sound of her name. The light of recognition entered her eyes. He could see her coming back to her senses and couldn't stop the breath of relief that escaped him.

The dog shook her head, as if to clear it. "Sesshoumaru?" she said weakly, looking up at him. All of a sudden she launched herself at his leg, pressing her muzzle into the cloth of his hakama like a small child hiding. "You came," she said with quiet wonder, as if she couldn't believe it.

"You called," he said flatly, in answer.

"I did?" Surprise crossed her features, followed at its heels by confusion. She did not know?

"You were shouting my name. You do not remember?"

Kagome tried to. It was all a blur—a rush of movement and adrenalin, all jumbled up together in her head. She remembered wanting to protect…to defend... "Oh," she said, quietly, "I…didn't realize I was." She found herself pressing further into his leg, embarrassed by how shaken she was but needing the comfort, regardless of who it came from. She suspected she was in shock. "I think…I think I had a bit of a panic attack," she admitted, forcing a weak laugh.

"Hn," he commented. "Come." The taiyoukai pulled away from her and started towards the cavern. But he took only a few strides before he stopped again, turning a critical eye on her as she limped after him. "You are injured," he accused, words dripping with displeasure.

"I'm okay," she insisted, trying not to favor the leg too obviously. "It just got, _er_…chewed a little. I just need to—hey!" she squawked as he swept her up in a flash of movement and tossed her over his shoulder. "I can walk! Put me down!"

The taiyoukai ignored her in that obstinate way of his. "Jaken," he called out. On the other side of the clearing the toad continued clubbing his wolf over the head whilst spewing curses at it. "Jaken," Sesshoumaru repeated. "There is little sense in flogging a dead wolf."

Jaken paused in mid-swing. He blinked at the animal for a moment (she thought he maybe looked a little sheepish, but she didn't say anything), then whirled with an ecstatic "Sesshoumaru-sama! You saved us!" Babbling praise ensued.

Not waiting for the imp to catch up, Sesshoumaru turned away, stalking towards the cave with her draped over his shoulder like a second black-furred pelt. Kagome wriggled in protest. He was being ridiculous. She still had three good legs. That's more than she was used to! "Your fur is getting in my mouth," she grumbled, trying to spit it out. She was sunk shoulder-deep in his downy wrap. "And your hair."

"Would you prefer the side with the spikes?" he offered.

"No, no, this is good," she amended quickly. Shifting, she nestled herself deeper into the plush fur, trying to make herself comfortable even though she hurt all over. Their banter soothed her. It was weirdly comforting. And switching from terrified to ticked-off so fast had been enough to snap her out of her momentary shock. She wondered if he'd done it on purpose.

She could also admit, as he effortlessly sprang over the slippery rocks, that she was glad she didn't have to walk it herself. Now that the adrenalin had left her, fatigue was setting in. Her muscles all burned and her mind felt hazy. Lowering her head, she sighed into his fur. It was soft as newborn bunnies, soft as feather down. She felt like she was riding on a white cloud. It put her own ratty fur to shame. "This is kind of nice, actually," she commented from her perch. She could ride around up here all day.

"This Sesshoumaru is not carrying you because it is _nice_, miko," he said. "I am carrying you because it is necessary."

"It can be both, you know," she mumbled into his pelt. It was so warm, even when wet. It made her feel muddled. Or maybe she just didn't feel well. Her head sort of hurt.

As they approached the cave they found Ah-Un using its own body as a barricade, sealing Rin inside. Seeing Sesshoumaru coming, the dragon rumbled, nosing at the youkai for reassurance. The taiyoukai murmured something to them, but either it was too quiet for her to hear or she was too woozy to make it out. The dragon slid out of the way and Sesshoumaru carried her inside out of the rain.

It was as he removed his mantle, with her still attached, that she noticed the patches of red spread across it. "Oh no…" she said as he set her down atop the mass of fur. "I'm bleeding on your pelt..." She feebly tried to move herself but found the pelt had twisted itself around her till she was thoroughly entangled. She suddenly did not have the energy to fight it. She did not have any energy at all.

Dazedly she watched the red stains grow. His fur was so nice. She felt really bad about the red. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

Sesshoumaru said nothing.

She wanted to paw at the stain, thinking somehow this would help, but her legs were so heavy. Her head was heavy too, so she let it sink down into the billowing fur. "I'm really tired," she told him.

Rain drummed outside. Sesshoumaru was finally saying something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Kagome was pleased anyway. He had a nice voice.

The fur was very red. Kagome did not like looking at it.

So she closed her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Hum. Not sure I really like this chapter. The tone rubs me wrong. But, I'll stop letting it hold the story up. Promise we'll get back to bad dog jokes and fluff soon enough!

* * *

Mid-morning the next day saw Kagome resting on the rocks just outside the cave, drinking in the warm sunshine. The storm had passed and the air smelt clean and fresh. Looking down at the clearing below her, it was as though nothing had happened there at all. Sesshoumaru had removed the wolves and the rain had removed the blood, and the only way she knew last night hadn't been a bad dream was she felt like she'd been through a paper shredder.

She had woken only a short while ago to find most of her injuries already cleaned and sewn up. Her body was crisscrossed with tight, precise stitches—her ear must look like a patchwork quilt. None of the cuts seemed severe, but the sum of them explained why her head swam when she stood and her limbs felt weak and anemic. It was a feat in and of itself that she'd managed to limp outside on her own.

She had found Sesshoumaru standing outside the cave, his watchful eyes turned toward the meadow below them. She followed his gaze down to where the rest of his entourage sat in the grass.

Jaken was dashing about the field, sweeping up every flower he could find. He carted them all back to Rin, who sat between Ah-Un's forelegs, her knees tucked against her chest. The little girl was pale as a ghost.

"Look at this one!" she could hear Jaken say, waving a broken-stemmed daisy. "This one is that awful color you always like!" But his efforts drew no response, and the around her the pile of flowers grew and grew.

"Is she all right?" Kagome asked, looking to Sesshoumaru.

He didn't answer. His aura was frosty, nipping at her. The cold was a barrier around him shoving her back.

"What's wrong with her?" she tried again.

He was silent for a long minute.

"Rin does not like wolves," he said, turning away.

She knew when to leave it alone. Agitation lined his aloof posture. Deciding to give him some space, she chose a sunny patch of rock to bask in and lowered herself to the ground, mindful of her mangled paw.

When she had made herself comfortable Sesshoumaru turned again. He withdrew a length of white linen from somewhere in his sleeve and in two short strides he was in front of her. Silk robes fluttered as he dropped to his knees.

He held out his hand imperiously and she set her paw in it. Without a word he began wrapping it.

Kagome kept her silence, watching him work. She was strangely touched. He didn't have to do this. He didn't even have to sew her up. But he did, and he was. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As if she wasn't fuzzy enough on the outside. "Thank you," she murmured.

He continued twining the linen around and around with brisk efficiency, keeping it tight and even. "Your injuries are considerable," he said, offhandedly. It was posed as a statement, but she got the feeling it was really a question. She just had no idea what he was indirectly asking.

"Tell me about it," she mumbled.

Working his way to the end of her paw, he began tying off the bandage. "You have four legs," he continued. "You could have easily fled."

"_What?_" Her ears went forward in confusion. "And leave Rin and the others to fend for themselves?"

He gave a noncommittal, "_Hn._"

Kagome drew back sharply. "I could never do that!" she barked, gaping at him. "I can't believe you'd think that of me!"

"It was not intended as a slight," he intoned in that cool, flat-voiced way of his. "I am merely making the observation that as the swiftest creature present, your escape was assured. It would have been your most logical move…had you chosen it."

"_Logical?"_ Kagome echoed, growing more incredulous by the minute. _"Logical?_ It would have been _horrible!"_

"Logic is often cruel."

"Well _I'm_ not!" Kagome could not believe what she was hearing. He wanted to know why she'd _stayed?_ What was _wrong_ with him? "She's just a little girl! I'm not going to run away and leave a little girl to the wolves!"

"You would not be the first," he replied with a one-shouldered shrug, and realization hit her like a kick to the head. _Rin does not like wolves_. _Rin does not like wolves_…_because she has encountered them before_. "She is not your responsibility. You had no reason to risk yourself."

"No reason? It was the right thing to do!"

Something darkened in his eyes. "No one does things because they are _right_, miko," he bit out, as if the words were too bitter to taste. His next words rang with bleak finality. "You are a fool to think otherwise."

"You would," she shot back. "If it was you there instead of me, you would have done the exact same thing."

He gave her a snooty, self-assured look down his nose. "_This_ Sesshoumaru would have been in no danger."

"Don't you give me that," she growled back. "You would have done it whether it was dangerous or not. Don't you dare lie to me and tell me you wouldn't."

His silence was her answer and Kagome understood a number of things all at once. It wasn't that he didn't get that it was _right_ to selflessly save a little girl—he understood why someone _should_. It's that he didn't think anyone _would_. That's what this was about. He really, genuinely didn't expect anybody to risk themselves for the sake of another, _ever. _By doing so she had gone against his fundamental understanding of the world. She wondered what had happened to him that he had so little faith in people.

"You _really_ thought I would just run away and leave her?" she said, staring at him in disbelief. His continued silence spoke for itself. Kagome shook her head, feeling unaccountably disappointed in him. "I knew your opinion of humans was low, but…wow."

"You misunderstand, miko. I bear no particular ill will towards humans."

Kagome snorted. "Are you _kidding_ me? You're always talking about how much you hate humans. You act like humans are the scum of the earth."

"What a human way of seeing things," he drawled with infuriating calm. She really wanted to bite him in that moment. "Always thinking yourselves the center of the world. If you will recall, I stated I bear no _particular_ ill will towards humans."

The stress on the one word gave her pause. She thought back on all the times she'd encountered him, all the insults and taunts given in the heat of battle. _Wait._ Wasn't he…wasn't he also always mocking lesser youkai? And even other higher youkai?

Come to think of it, had he ever seemed to respect any one at all, except maybe his father?—and it seemed like Sesshoumaru didn't think too highly of him any more either.

In fact, Kagome realized with sudden insight, he pretty much considered everything to be beneath the purity of "This Sesshoumaru."

Her eyes widened. Sesshoumaru wasn't a bigot or a misanthropist at all. He was a mis_everything_ist.

"Okay…let me get this straight…" she said slowly. "You hate everything fairly and equally. Everyone else is at the same level in your eyes, which is below you. You consider yourself to be the only worthwhile person in the entire world."

"I am glad you finally understand."

Kagome honestly did not know what to say to that. He was either the most conceited person she had ever met or the most disillusioned.

"Nevertheless," she said finally, steering back to the conversation, "you do seem to have a, ah…_particular_ _disdain_ for humans."

Sesshoumaru breathed a light huff that was almost, _almost_ a laugh. "Have you smelt a human village recently, miko?"

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "Point taken." Being a dog had really given her a new appreciation for modern soap.

Ear twitching, she turned back towards the field at the bright, light sound of a small laugh. Rin was smiling. "So…" she began, watching as his attention shifted towards the sound; as something in the harsh lines of him softened. "Where does Rin fit into your little dichotomy?"

She did her very best not to grin when Sesshoumaru stilled. _Seems there's a few pieces he can't make fit in with the rest of the puzzle any more_.

"Rin is too young to have developed any failings."

"I see," she said, now grinning openly.

"Perhaps she will be exempt from them under this Sesshoumaru's influence."

"Perhaps," she said agreeably.

Sesshoumaru scowled, aware that she was humoring him. Kagome wagged her tail cheerily.

At another laugh his gaze strayed back to the field. Kagome's followed suit. "What do we do now?" she asked, watching Rin skip through the grass she'd bled all over.

He stood. "We remain here until you are well enough to travel." As he made to leave she found herself climbing to her paws. He stopped and slanted an inquiring look over his shoulder.

"So…you _really_ thought I was the kind of person to just run away?" she found herself asking again, not knowing why it bothered her so or when his opinion of her had come to matter.

He was quiet for a long minute. It drew out on and on, and she was positive he wouldn't answer her at all when, to her astonishment, he _sighed_. "Kagome," he said without turning around. "You forget that this Sesshoumaru has witnessed you in action before. Not once have you ever failed to charge into certain doom. If you were so willing to fling yourself under my own claws, it comes as no surprise that you think nothing of wolves." He gave a dismissive wave of his claws. "It is not your methods, but your mind, that is a mystery to me."

And then he was bounding down the rocks, sleeves fluttering in his wake, and Kagome was alone.

_He used my name_, she thought.

And then, _He answered me_.

Kagome shook her head dazedly, too tired to try and figure him out today. His mind was a mystery to her too. He'd acted so cold to her, but he'd bandaged her up at the same time—actions speak louder than words, right? Maybe being cold was the only way he knew how to handle things he didn't understand. Or people he didn't understand.

But what really struck Kagome was the fact that he had actually _explained_ himself. That meant she had _earned_ an answer. He had accorded her some kind of new respect in his eyes, one that she didn't have before. Something had changed.

Kagome set her head down on her paws, comforted by that thought.

It was funny, though, she reflected as she let her eyes drift shut, lulled to sleep by the warm summer sun. If she didn't know any better…she would say that he had basically just told her that she made no sense at all, and it really got under his skin.


	8. Chapter 8

Trying to get back into writing. Still don't think this chapter is quite right, but better to move forward than be stuck on it forever.

To those of you who've been guessing what's going on with Kagome: some of you are right.

* * *

Time seemed to slow to a stop during the week she spent recovering in the field. There was no jewel to find there, no exams to study, no demons to fight. There was only she and Rin running through the summer grass; she and Ah-Un chasing each other's tails; she and Jaken competing over who could find the best flowers. And most of all of course there was she and Sesshoumaru bantering about anything and everything. (_Especially_ everything).

There was no venom in it though, and her days were filled with laughter and a kind of giddy contentment, and she found herself wondering when the last time she had ever been this relaxed was. Even breaking the spell didn't seem all that urgent any more.

Today such heavy thoughts were far from her mind as they spent the afternoon relaxing in a bed of wild daisies. Or at least, Sesshoumaru was relaxing. Kagome was finding it difficult to relax. Kagome was finding it difficult not to hurl herself in the nearest patch of brambles and thrash around in it until all her fur came off.

"Scratching will not rid yourself of fleas," Sesshoumaru commented.

"I do _not_ have fleas," she grumbled, giving herself a vicious scratch. His deadpan expression spoke volumes and Kagome flattened her ears at him. "It's not fleas when there's only one," she insisted with a huff.

But even as she said it a sharp new itch sprang up on her ear, and she knew her problem was indeed multiplying.

With a frustrated growl she set about scratching her ear with a hind paw, but the maddening itch only grew worse. It was unbearable! She almost thought about asking him for help but he'd probably do something insane like melt the fleas off her.

Scratching harder, she ground her teeth and tried to pinpoint where the wretched, bloody little monster was—

"Kagome-sama?" came a tiny, incredulous voice from somewhere in her fur.

The miko froze in mid-scratch.

"Kagome-sama! Is that _you_?" A tiny figure leapt into view and bounced to the tip of her nose.

"Myouga!" Kagome gasped, tail wagging in excitement. "It's so good to see you! What are you _doing_ here?"

"I was on my way to see my Lord Sesshoumaru, of course. But, Kagome what are _you_ doing here? Why aren't you with Lord Inuyasha and the others? What on earth has happened to you!" The flea coughed, looking suddenly contrite. "Ah, that is to say, you seem a bit…er…_different_ today, Kagome-sama. More…ah…"

"Furry?" she supplied.

"A little," he admitted tactfully.

"There was an accident," Kagome said with a weak smile. "I got caught by a foxes' spell. I've been stuck in the body of a dog ever since." Kagome cocked her head. "How did you even know it was me?"

"As if I wouldn't recognize such sweet blood anywhere, my dear," Myouga chuckled. Shaking his head, his manner turned grave. "But Kagome, this is most terrible! We must find a way to change you back at once!"

"Don't worry," Kagome said, brightening, "Sesshoumaru is helping me. He's going to take me to Inuyasha and the others, and together we'll figure out what to do. I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't found him." She smiled reassuringly. "Everything is going to be just fine. You'll see. I'll be human again in no time. In the meantime…it's not so bad like this, traveling with Sesshoumaru. In fact, it's been sort of nice." She snuck a glance at the taciturn taiyoukai, who was regarding the horizon with a look of profound disinterest. And probably eavesdropping.

"Lord _Sesshoumaru_ is helping you?" The flea paused. "…Is he feeling well?"

"Oh, come on," Kagome said, "he's not so bad either. In fact, he's been sort of..." she felt his eyes on her and the words _sort of nice too_ got caught in her throat. "Sort of not entirely evil?" she finished weakly.

Myouga blinked up at her. "Are we discussing the same Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Be nice," she chided.

"Kagome-bitch!" Rin interrupted, shouting from across the field. The dog turned to see the girl waving at her and grinning from Ah-Un's back. "Kagome-bitch, come play with us!"

"Kagome…_what?_" Myouga repeated.

"Don't ask," she mumbled. The little girl continued shouting her new nickname (curse Sesshoumaru and his dastardly sense of humor) and the tiny flea chortled.

"I think you're being summoned," he said, moustache twitching in amusement.

"It can wait," she said, despite the sudden unexpected impulse to race across the field and join her. Rin's enthusiasm was infectious and left her itching to run, to race, to play. She shoved the urge down: this was important. "I only just ran into you again. Where have you been hiding all this time?"

"Hiding? You wound me, Kagome-sama!" A faint huff sounded from the taiyoukai's direction; the flea chose to ignore it. "I have been away on important business, of course."

"Of course," Kagome agreed with a smile. A thought occurred to her a moment later and she frowned. "Wait though. How come you can understand me? I thought Sesshoumaru was the only one."

"I'm a flea, my dear. I spend a lot of time with dogs."

Kagome laughed. "I should have thought of that."

"Kagome-bitch_,_" Rin said plaintively, running up to them. Before Kagome even knew what she was doing she had taken three steps towards the girl. The dog halted, surprised at herself. "Please, Kagome-bitch?"

Kagome thought it was thoroughly unfair that she was the dog yet Rin had the better puppy eyes.

Myouga gave her a funny look. "Why don't you go on ahead and see to Rin?" the flea said.

"No, I…"

"You don't want her to play all by herself, do you?"

Kagome got the feeling she was being manipulated, but was overwhelmed by his profound logic. _Playing by oneself? What a terrible idea!_ "Do you want to play too?" she asked, turning to the flea who had hopped off of her.

"Oh, this old flea is too old to play I'm afraid," he said, waving his tiny hands.

"Are you sure?" she asked, not wanting him to feel left out.

"Yes, yes! I need to talk to Lord Sesshoumaru."

Kagome gave him a dubious look but finally gave in, a canine grin spreading across her face as she turned and trotted off across the field.

When she was out of earshot Myouga hopped over to the taiyoukai and in a few short springs was perched on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. The taiyoukai said nothing. They stood there in silence, watching the miko as she romped through the flowers, laughter trailing behind her.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Myouga asked quietly.

Sesshoumaru knew at once of what he spoke. There was only one thing the flea could mean.

He could tell Kagome did not understand the nature of such spells. No, he corrected mentally, of such _curses_. He could tell from the moment she first walked into his camp on four legs all those weeks ago that she did not understand at all.

Transformation spells were not a form of attack. They were a form of torture.

"She does not need to know," he answered.

"Doesn't need to know!" Myouga sputtered. "How can you say that?"

"It takes many months to happen. She will be returned to normal long before it has even begun."

"I'm not so certain that is the case, Sesshoumaru-sama," Myouga said, wringing his tiny hands. "This is not the normal way these things go."

"And how is it not normal?" the taiyoukai blandly replied.

"You see," he said carefully, turning to where Kagome bounded across the field after a butterfly, "I think she rather enjoys being a dog."

Sesshoumaru's head snapped around. The miko was prancing on four paws, light and carefree as the butterflies she danced around, and her laughter rang around him like a heavy bell tolling, but the flea was still wrong. It was impossible. Who in their right mind would ever…No. Myouga had jumped to conclusions. The flea was a fool.

And yet…_and yet_, he found his thoughts wandering back to that night in the rain, when for a moment there had seemed to be…something missing.

In his mind, the sound of empty barking overlaid her laughter and something he couldn't place stirred in his chest.

* * *

Kagome's muzzle opened wide in a sleepy yawn; shaking her head to clear it, she struggled to stay awake at her post. She was guarding the entrance to the cave while Rin, Ah-Un, and Jaken slept in a heap at the back. Truthfully it was Jaken's turn to keep watch, but she wanted to wait for Sesshoumaru to come back. Myouga had left hours ago and Sesshoumaru had seemed somehow off since then, though she couldn't quite put her paws on why she thought so. Finally he went off to "go hunting," which was also Sesshoumaru-speak for going off somewhere to be moody.

It must've been nearly midnight by the time he returned, his aura preceding him in slow wave. Moments later the taiyoukai landed in a graceful sweep of silk, looming at the cave entrance. "You're back!" Kagome cried, jumping to her paws in excitement. Her wagging tail stilled at his grim expression, his mouth set in a hard line, and she couldn't help but wonder if she'd done something wrong. His aura was cold again, though without the biting edge of last time. More…tumultuous, murky. "Sesshoumaru?"

"We will depart in the morning," he declared.

"So soon?" Kagome said, ears drooping. She'd been hoping they could maybe have a few more days…

The taiyoukai gave her an unexpectedly sharp look.

"We have stayed far longer than necessary. Are you not eager to rejoin your own companions?"

The question struck her, hard. Wasn't she? "Yes," she began, "but I…"

"Good. Then tomorrow we set out into the forest. Be ready at dawn."

He stalked towards the back of the cavern; she trotted after him, feeling rushed and anxious. "Shouldn't we tell Rin and Jaken?" she protested. "They'll need to get ready and—"

"They will not be coming."

The dog stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?" she managed, heart falling.

"You and I will travel faster alone." Sesshoumaru's gaze was unreadable; uncompromising. "We have wasted enough time. Unless you plan to spend half the season on this journey, we shall have to increase our pace." His words rang with finality. "Rin and the others stay behind. We go on alone."

The miko's jaw was open but she couldn't seem to find any words, and with that, Sesshoumaru spun on his heel and turned away. He could feel her sad, bewildered eyes on his back as he left. His chest stirred uncomfortably again but he shoved the feeling aside.

In the back of his head, he could still hear mindless barking as he leaned back against the cold stone wall of the cave. Mindless, empty, wordless barking.

_She doesn't know, does she?_ the flea had said.

No. She did not know.

Spells such as hers were not an eternal punishment, dooming unfortunate souls to remain forever as sentient minds trapped alone in animal's bodies.

They were a way to dispose of someone while giving them some time to think about it.

To make them feel themselves slip away, day by day, their thoughts—their _selves_—running like water and shadows through their fingers…To die a slow death inside their own minds…

Right now she was a girl trapped in the body of a dog, but one day…_one day_, the girl would be gone and there would be just the dog.

Just the dog.


	9. Chapter 9

Rin had been heartbroken at the news they would be parting, but she didn't give one word of complaint. The little girl just bravely nodded her chin and began to gather her few belongings. Kagome herself was still in shock. She'd gotten used to her unlikely companions and, well…she _liked_ traveling with them. She liked Rin's exuberant games, and Jaken's dour grumbling. She liked Sesshoumaru's thoughtful observations and quiet silences and snarky remarks.

That was the one nice thing about this; she'd get to spend more time with Sesshoumaru. The thought cheered her up a bit.

She knew Sesshoumaru was right. Rin was slow and Jaken was slower; and Ah-Un would be almost fast if he didn't have to stop and bask in the sun every few hours. They were moving across the countryside at a painful crawl. Maybe if she still had two legs she wouldn't see it that way, but her new body was _made_ for travel; she could run for hours without breaking a sweat (granted, she didn't have sweat glands). They could double, even triple their pace by going alone.

That didn't make it any easier to say goodbye.

"I'm gonna miss them," she murmured. Despite his earlier demand that they leave at dawn, he'd let them linger and the mid-morning sun was already pouring through the trees, gold and gleaming. But they'd packed everything they could think of and harnessed the dragon, and now they were only dawdling, delaying the inevitable. It was time.

The little girl approached her mournfully and Kagome stifled an unhappy whine.

"It is not as though you will never meet again," Sesshoumaru said to her in that unreadable voice of his. He'd been unusually solemn (even for him) since yesterday.

"Really?" she said, perking up a little. She hadn't thought of that, but their groups _did_ cross paths on occasion…"Promise you'll let her come visit?"

"Hn," he said. Kagome gave him a big canine grin.

Rin knelt and wrapped her arms around Kagome's neck. "Rin will miss you, Kagome-Bitch," Rin mumbled into her fur with a tearful sniff.

"I'll miss you too, Rin," Kagome murmured, even though she knew the child couldn't understand. Some things could be spoken without words.

She wanted the hug to last forever but knew that it couldn't. All too soon they broke apart. Rin stood and sighed and looked at the ground, utterly dejected. Kagome's heart lurched.

"Puppy kisses for Rin!" Kagome cried, pouncing and knocking her to the ground. Rin squealed and giggled as she showered her face with wet doggie kisses. When the little girl was completely breathless with laughter, Kagome turned to look at Jaken. Tail wagging, she lowered herself into a crouch.

"Don't even think about it," the toad warned.

"Puppy kisses for Jaken!" she crowed with glee. She sprung and pinned him down and gave him a great big slurping lick. Jaken squawked and cursed and flailed, but Kagome could see beneath his gruff exterior. She was sure she'd grown on him as much as he'd grown on her.

A hopeful rumble came from the dragon's direction and she turned to them with a grin. "Puppy kisses for Ah!" she said, jumping up and giving each one a lick on the nose. She certainly couldn't neglect her favorite fellow quadruped. "Puppy kisses for Un!"

The dragons purred and each gave her a dragon-sized lick back, nearly bowling her over. Giddy with laughter, she sprang in a circle, landing in a play-bow at the taiyoukai's feet. "Puppy kisses for Sesshoumaru?"

He gave her a withering stare.

"_Ahaha_," she said, backing up sheepishly. "Just kidding, just kidding!" But even as she said it Kagome found that for some reason she was staring at the stripes curving down his aristocratic cheekbones. She wondered what it would be like to jump up and give them a quick—with a full-body shake, Kagome shoved that thought right out of her head before it formed and buried it in her mental backyard.

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru was saying as she brought her attention back to the present. She looked up to find the dragons standing quietly before him as he deftly fastened their muzzles. "You will ride Ah-Un and take Rin back to the den. I will join you after I have returned the miko."

Her ears perked up in interest. "You live in a den?"

"It is my family's ancestral den," he answered flatly. "I have resided there, at times."

It suited him, somehow, she thought. He seemed a little too wild for a regular, 'civilized' house. Kagome thought the idea of living in a den was fascinating. Especially a den big enough for a dog like him! "Really? Who else lives there?"

"No one."

Her tail stilled. "You live all alone?"

"And gladly so," was his lofty response.

The thought made her bizarrely sad. It shouldn't—he certainly wasn't sad about it. Sesshoumaru seemed very much the lone wolf.

But he wasn't a wolf. He was a dog.

And she knew—from very personal experience—that being a lone dog was _lonely_.

Sesshoumaru was clearly not one for long goodbyes and before long Rin and Jaken were mounted. He delivered his final instructions to Jaken and stepped back, a glance at Kagome sending her backpedaling out of the way too. The dragon's youki billowed around them as its forefeet began to lift off the ground. Kagome and Sesshoumaru stood together and watched as they slowly rose, as if buoyed on a swell of warm air.

"Take care, Rin!" she cried, standing up on her hind legs.

"Goodbye, Kagome-Bitch!" Rin waved as they rose higher and higher. They were already nearing the treetops. "Promise to come back and play with me!"

"I will!" Kagome woofed back.

"And promise to be a good doggie!" Her voice was growing distant now.

"Okay!"

"And promise to take good care of Sesshoumaru-sama!"

_Her_ take care of _him?_ Oh, the silly ideas children have. "Sure!" she laughed.

"And promise not to die anymore!"

"I—" The world seemed to stop for a moment. There was a heavy, seizing feeling in her chest and the sound of her heart thudded unnaturally loud. "Die anymore?" she said, but Rin was finally gone and there was no answer.

She turned to the taiyoukai and found Sesshoumaru was already walking away. She ran after him.

"Die anymore?"

Dry grass crunched beneath his boots.

"Die any_more?_" she repeated, keeping pace.

"Are you a dog or a parrot?" he inquired mildly.

"Are you going to answer me or what?" she shot back.

"What," he retorted.

Kagome slowed to a stop, falling back on her haunches. Ahead of her, Sesshoumaru came to a halt.

_I died?_

Dizziness made her bow her head. How could she die and not know it? She searched her memories of that night, in the rain with the wolves, but there was nothing. Just darkness, warm fur, and red. She thought she also remembered hushed words, so distant, but no matter how she tried she couldn't remember what they were.

"I can't have died," she said weakly, protesting with logic. "If I died, and you used tenseiga, why would I have needed all those stitches? And spent a week recovering? I can't have.._died_."

His expression hardly changed and yet she had the impression of a faint grimace.

"Tenseiga has been called a sword of healing by some," he finally said, after a long, terrible silence. "It is not. It does not heal. It is a blade of resurrection, and resurrection alone."

"I don't understand."

Sesshoumaru looked like he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. Or like he wanted to run away and escape this conversation. But instead he turned his eyes to the sky, biting out, "It _resurrects_. It only undoes the fatal blow—whatever ended the life. Not every cut or scrape or affliction. But none of your wounds would have been fatal alone." At her continued incomprehension he made an exasperated sound. "You bled to death. Therefore, the sword restored your life's blood—and nothing more. At which point you proceeded to bleed to death again."

"But…" Kagome protested, jaw open, "but that's just…_stupid!_"

She got the feeling she may have touched on a sore point. "It's inanimate," he ground out. "It has surprisingly little understanding of how living bodies work."

Kagome blinked dumbly for a few moments, absorbing this. "No _wonder_ you hated the sword." She had the strange thought that maybe he hadn't shunned his birthright because the sword couldn't kill so much as because it didn't meet his intellectual standards. _How embarrassing to have gotten the remedial sword. Not that tessaiga's job takes a lot of heavy thinking._

And she really shouldn't find any of this funny—she'd _died_—but for some reason she started to giggle. Sesshoumaru arched a brow, looking down at her like she was slightly mad, and then she was laughing so hard she fell onto her back and rolled. Her black furry ears flopped down over her eyes and the whole thing seemed just so deliriously, wonderfully funny. She kicked her paws in the air for good measure.

"Are you…well?"

She shook her ears off her face and gazed up at him. He definitely thought she was mad. Kagome couldn't help but grin at him. She ought to be upset; and she couldn't explain why but instead she was inexplicably happy. Happy in this moment, to be here, with him. Today was a good day to be alive.

And thanks to him, she was. How could she not be happy about that?

"You saved me," she smiled up at him, still lying on her back, paws tucked against her chest. He didn't answer: it wasn't a question. She wanted to ask him _why,_ but when she opened her mouth she instead found herself asking, "What did you say to me the night I died?"

"Do you intend to lay on the ground all day, or will there be any actual traveling on this journey?" he drawled instead of answering.

"…I like the ground."

Sesshoumaru huffed and turned back towards the forest. "Heel, girl."

"Oh!" She rolled to her feet with a grin. "You did not just say that to me! Just for that, I'm going to dig up your garden after all!"

"I do not have a garden," he said, continuing onward.

"I'll make you one. With daisies. And then I'll ruin it."

Another huff. "I tremble in my boots."

"Your boots are next," she added, loping by his side.

For the first time all day that shadow of amusement was back in his eyes, and she couldn't have been happier to see it.


	10. Chapter 10

ugh. crappychapter is crappy. sorry. bear with me while I remember how to write.

* * *

"Race you to the rock!" Kagome challenged. Her brush-like tail swept back and forth as they loped along, enjoying the feel of dirt and leaves crunching under her paws and kicking up behind her. A day had gone by since their departure and they'd set an easy jogging pace, one that let them go for miles at a time without tiring. She'd never been able to run like this as a human. The wind was alive with smells and she ran straight into it, tongue lolling out. Running was freedom, running was…fun!

"You cannot possibly think to defeat me," he blandly retorted.

"I _know_ I'll lose," Kagome said. "That's not the point. The point, is I like racing." The rock she'd picked was already past them so she swung her muzzle around looking for a new target. For a dog as old as he was, he sometimes didn't get the simplest things. Which was funny because now that she was a dog, everything made perfect sense! Running was fun. Sesshoumaru was Not Running. Therefore, Sesshoumaru was Not Having Fun.

Which is why it was absolutely imperative that he race with her. Also, she liked racing.

"Aha! Race you to the…other rock!"

"It does not count as a race if I do not participate."

"Last one there is a labradoodle~!" she sang. Kagome tore ahead of him, launching herself at the boulder—and suddenly it was no longer there. Sesshoumaru had somehow gotten ahead of her, and had lifted the entire thing out of the ground. He held it high over his head, far out of reach.

"Aw, phoo," she said. "I didn't think you'd know what a labradoodle was."

"I do not," he answered, gravely. "But the name alone is unacceptable."

Kagome laughed and he tossed the boulder aside.

Traveling with Sesshoumaru was surprisingly nice. She didn't know why it was nice, since he was so stuffy and fussy and hardly talked to her at all. Sometimes it was so frustrating she just wanted to chew things. But she was glad for the companionship, stuffiness and all.

There was only one thing that gnawed at her, and unfortunately, it only got worse as the day dragged on.

* * *

Sesshoumaru stood quietly with his eyes shut while they took a break from the heavy mid-day sun, resting by a stream. It let him focus on the scents, filtering them out of the air and reading the messages they had for him: the dust of the trail they followed, rain days ahead on the breeze, distant wolves hunting distant deer, rabbits burrowed in the riverbank, a miko whose scent brimmed with question standing in front of him.

He opened his eyes.

"So, um…" she scuffed her paw on the ground, "…when are we going to eat?"

Sesshoumaru looked down at her, blankly; she looked back up with a small hopeful wag of her tail.

Sesshoumaru did not understand what her point was. She could eat any time she felt like it. There was plenty of food running around. Was this another game?

"It's just, we haven't stopped for a meal since we left Rin and the others, you know?" she continued. "And...I'm hungry."

"Have you not teeth?" he said. "Have you not claws?" He idly held up his own claw-tipped fingers.

"Well, yeah," she said. She stared at up him. A long moment drew out between them; her tail gave a few idle thumps. He stared back. "I don't see what you're getting at."

Sesshoumaru breathed a silent sigh. "What do you suppose teeth and claws are for?"

"Oh." The miko blinked. "_Oh!_" She looked suddenly panic-stricken. "But—you don't expect me to _use_ them! I can't do that! I don't know how to hunt things!"

Startled, Sesshoumaru asked, "You have never caught your own food?"

"Of _course_ not!"

Sesshoumaru was taken aback. To not know how to hunt for yourself was…_unthinkable_. A first hunt is like a rite of passage. A basic life skill—like learning to walk, and write, and slaughter enemy hordes. He'd been hunting for himself since he grew milk teeth.

"Do humans not hunt meat?"

"Yeah, but not with their _teeth_," she replied, appalled. "And…and just a few people do all the hunting for everyone else. I don't hunt food, I _buy_ it. In a store. With money."

She may as well have just told him she was an orphan raised by wild goats. (Not wolves, wolves would have the good sense to teach their pup to hunt). Where was the pride in eating food someone _else_ caught? Did human parents completely ignore the basics? What good was math and writing and other educational nonsense when you couldn't _feed_ yourself?

"Come, then," he instructed, straightening.

"Come where?"

He almost smiled.

"Your first hunting lesson."

* * *

"I…I did it!"

The miko-dog stood over her kill, looking almost as amazed as he was. They spent the better part of the afternoon at that riverbank, where he took her through the steps of scenting her prey, tracking it, flushing it out, the chase, the strike. Methods for catching small prey—things she could hunt on her own.

The first time she gave herself away too soon ("Why on earth are you barking at it?" he asked, bemused), the next the wind changed and exposed her scent, the time after that it simply outran her, the time after that she stumbled. But now Kagome stood there with a rabbit at her feet, its neck broken in one bite.

She seemed slightly dazed. "I did it," she repeated.

Sesshoumaru knelt and peered down, inspecting her prize with a critical eye. "It is small," he said finally. "And old. It is probably why you were able to bring it down with so little practice."

An alarming thing happened then.

The miko began to cry.

A whine rose up in her throat, her ears flattened, and she threw back her head in a wail that was the canine equivalent of someone sobbing their eyes out.

Sesshoumaru felt something akin to panic.

"It is a very nice rabbit," he amended quickly. "You made a fine kill."

To his confused dismay, this only made her cry harder.

Nothing he said had any effect and Sesshoumaru found himself increasingly distressed, and not because he had any sort of weakness for tears. He realized then that he had wanted to share this with her—the exhilaration, the pride. The self-fulfillment that came with knowing you depended on no one; of being the source of your own survival. He was _pleased_ to share it with her. If there was anything untainted in his life, it was the satisfaction of a good hunt. He thought she would enjoy it. That it had made her unhappy made him unaccountably unhappy.

"I apologize," he tried. "First kills are sentimental, I should not have criticized."

"It's not that," she sniffled. "I _killed_ it."

"…That is usually the goal of a hunt, yes."

"But what's the difference?" Kagome said, looking up at him with soulful eyes. "What's the difference between those wolves that hunted me, and me killing this poor rabbit? Aren't I just as bad as they are? To this rabbit, _I'm_ the big bad wolf. And I killed it." Her eyes squeezed shut. "Poor bunny," she mumbled guiltily. "Bad me."

_Ah._

"There _is_ no difference," Sesshoumaru said firmly. "But you are not bad." She stopped sniffling and looked up at him, head tilted. "The wolves were not bad. Hunting for food is not right or wrong, those are human words. Morals are human things. Surely it is not immoral to survive?"

"But…the poor defenseless bunny."

"If rabbits were so defenseless, you would have caught the first one," he retorted blandly. "Think of it as such: you and the rabbit engaged in a fair battle to the death—you to not starve and he to not be eaten. You won."

"But then…" Kagome said, clearly at moral unease, "then there was nothing wrong with the wolves wanting to eat Rin?"

"With wanting to? Perhaps not," Sesshoumaru answered, getting to his feet. "But," he added darkly, "there was something wrong with trying."

"Why?"

"Because their prey belonged to a much bigger predator." His smile was all razor teeth. "Had they kept to their own territory, they would have lived."

Kagome snorted. "I should've known it would come down to 'might is right' with you."

"Of course. It is the reason I am always right."

"_Excuse me?_" she choked.

"This Sesshoumaru is the most fearsome predator in Japan," he answered haughtily, enjoying the indignant look she wore. "Thus, _my_ word is law. I am right because I say it is so."

The miko-dog's expression was decidedly skeptical, if not outright disdainful. There was a flash of rebellion in her eyes and Sesshoumaru waited, highly entertained, to see how she would respond, knowing he'd goaded her where she couldn't help but bark back. If she were born a dog Sesshoumaru was certain she'd be the alpha of her own pack with a temperament like hers.

"Oh yeah?" Kagome jumped and grabbed the end of his trailing pelt in her teeth. For a moment Sesshoumaru was too stunned to react; this was _not_ what he had expected out of her. "Then now I'm the top predator, because _I've_ caught _you!_"

"Hardly," he huffed, giving his pelt a sharp jerk away from her. But to his surprise she held fast to it, digging her paws in. "Let go."

"Nope!" She yanked on her end, prancing side to side. "I caught you, I caught you!"

He tugged again and she growled and pulled back, but her tail was wagging furiously. Sesshoumaru had the dark suspicion she was enjoying this. The situation was absurd: just like a lion tolerated a cub chewing on its tail, her hold on him was only because he _allowed_ it: he could easily stop her. What he was unsure of was how to stop her without accidentally dismantling her.

Several minutes passed of testing her hold, including a brief stint where he held it high over his head and Kagome dangled in midair, tail wagging. At this point Kagome was definitely enjoying herself. "Tug of war, yay!" she cried, shaking it gleefully.

_A declaration of war. Hnn_.

"Release it at once."

Kagome was also feeling reckless.

"Make me."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the challenge. _So be it, then._

And he turned and set off at a calm walk, dragging Kagome along behind him. She dug all her paws in but it was no good; his stride didn't even waver. He might not be able to make her let go (unmaimed) but she couldn't budge him an inch and she knew it.

"Where are we going?" she said around the mouthful of pelt, the tall grass blocking her view of anything as she slid through it.

"To the river."

"Why the river?"

As the grass gave way to open riverbank he strode right up to the water's edge—and _over_ it.

Kagome had just enough time to yelp before she was pulled into the water after him—except she, of course, sunk.

As she dog-paddled up and surfaced, sputtering, she could now see the cloudy puffs of youki beneath his boots that held him just inches over the water's surface. The sodden end of his pelt lifted from the water in front of her as he pulled it up; she'd let go in surprise when she hit the water. Evil old dog. She'd been sure he was bluffing when she saw the river—he wouldn't walk into it with his nice clean clothes—but she'd forgotten he didn't have to. "Nice trick, Mister Fearsome Predator" she said, "but your evil plan is flawed, you know. I _like_ baths."

"My intent was to make you lose your hold; I achieved it."

"And now your pelt is all wet and swampy."

"So are you."

"Hm," she said. "Truce, then?"

"Does this mean you are conceding defeat, miko?" he drawled.

"Don't make me bite you." So much for peace offerings, she sighed. She sloshed back onto the shore and shook herself off. Sometimes it was hard to navigate the balance between them; there were times she wasn't sure if they were playing a game or fighting, and he didn't seem to know either, maybe because he didn't properly know how to play. Maybe he'd never learned. And sometimes she wasn't sure if he was pushing her buttons to be a jerk or because he was being nice in his own roundabout way, because apparently he'd never learned how to do that either. "By the way, thanks," she said, glancing at him.

"Hn," he said. "If it pleases you so much, I shall have to throw you in rivers more often."

"I mean for the lesson, and for, you know…talking to me. I needed it. So…thanks."

As usual Sesshoumaru did not seem to know what to do with himself when faced with gratitude, so Kagome saved him from from having to deal with it.

"Right, then! Last one back to the rabbit is a puggle~!"


	11. Chapter 11

Short chapter is short. Sorry. The scene wanted to stand by itself. Always meant for this story to have short chapters anyway...will be longer next time.

* * *

"Are you allergic to fun?" she asked. She paused in midstep, startled by her own question—she hadn't meant to ask that. She'd meant to ask: _Are you even listening to me?_ But the former had slipped out instead, out of the blue.

After a moment's thought, she decided it was a good question and asked it again.

Sesshoumaru slanted a cold look at her and—though she would swear his smooth gait hadn't changed—somehow pulled ahead of her, stalking down the trail.

Kagome quickened her pace to keep up. "Are you allergic to fun?" she asked a third time, doggedly pursuing her train of thought. She knew it was a bad idea but she just couldn't seem to let it go. It waved enticingly in front of her mind's eye, just asking to be chased.

Kagome had been experiencing many urges to chase things lately.

He continued on in grim silence. Her tail gave a few wags of its own volition.

"Sesshoumaru," she began again, "are you allergic to—?"

"_Are you allergic to silence?_"

Kagome stopped and considered.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"That explains a lot of things," Sesshoumaru muttered in a voice so low she wouldn't have heard it if she didn't have dog-ears. But she did.

"You're mean."

"Yes," he agreed. "Yes I am."

He was a smart-ass, too, apparently.

She was secretly pleased that she'd gotten him talking though. He'd been increasingly quiet over the past several days they'd been traveling alone. Every time she thought she'd made a breakthrough, the stony mask of indifference returned, trying to shut her out. More determined than ever to ignore her. Well, she was more determined than ever to grab him and shake him with her teeth until he saw sense. Something else seemed to be bothering him too, and it bothered her to see him looking so…disturbed.

Also, it interfered with her plan to get to know him better. Which he seemed particularly resistant to.

"Why must you always be so mean?"

"Why must you always be so annoying?" he responded blandly.

Kagome frowned a canine frown. "I'm not annoying. I'm sociable."

"Is there a difference?"

She flicked an ear in annoyance. Why was he being so difficult? "I can't help it if I need to talk to someone. I'm lonely. People are social animals." She eyed him. "Dogs are social animals too, you know."

"Fortunately," he drawled in his most haughty voice, "this Sesshoumaru is exception to such foolishness."

She gave him a long stare. "I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you make a _terrible_ dog."

Sesshoumaru huffed and picked up his pace again. Distractedly she went after him, looking up at the tall, lonely youkai. Wondering why the Prince of Dogs was the worst dog she had ever met. Solitary, mistrustful, quiet. Calculating and cold. Filled with weary bitterness. And apparently, completely allergic to fun.

But he was protective, to those who got under his guard and got close, as reluctant as he was to let it happen. He had that right, at least. But it seemed to be the sole concession he made to his canine nature. And he fought it fiercely; he didn't _want_ anyone to be close, or at least he thought he didn't. He was hardly like a dog at all.

She'd only been a dog for a few months, and she was a better dog than he was.

And it made her sad, because being a dog was a lot of fun, and he ought to be enjoying it.


	12. Chapter 12

Ugh. This chapter feels so contrived. Sorry. Moving along...

* * *

"Please?" the miko said, prancing at his side.

"No."

"_Please?_"

Sesshoumaru thought briefly about biting and shaking her. It would be the only way to make her shut up about it. And the day had started so well, too.

Truth be told, he had actually been enjoying their traveling together this morning, watching the way she took in everything with a sort of quiet wonder he had lost long ago. Everything to her was new and fresh every time she saw it: every sunrise was beautiful, every flower pretty, every field worth rolling in. Was it because she was seeing everything as a dog now, with new eyes and new senses? Or was it her humanity that made her see the world so? Perhaps to humans, everything was always new because their lives flashed by so fast the world never had a chance to grow old to them. They would never see how cold and bitter it was once the newness wore away.

Or perhaps it was simply Kagome, and the way she saw the world was hers alone.

His quiet contemplation of Kagome had ended however when she was struck by a ridiculous notion—

"Won't you scratch my ears for me?" she said again, tail wagging.

"No."

"But it's not fair that you have hands and won't share them."

"_No_."

"But we're friends! Friends help each other. If I had hands, I would scratch _your_ ears for you."

"I would not want them to be scratched," he huffed. Belatedly, he added, "we are not friends."

"You would if _I_ was doing the scratching. I bet I'd be really good at it!" she argued undeterred, circling around in front of him. "I'd be the best. I wish I had hands, then I'd show you. Having hands must be so much fun."

Sesshoumaru stopped, her phrasing making something inside him go still.

"You have had hands before," he said carefully. "You already know what having them is like."

"I do?" She looked confused for a moment, a frown flashing across her muzzle. "Oh…oh, yeah. Right. I just…got a little mixed up there." She shook herself and started walking again, but Sesshoumaru saw that the frown stayed.

So did his.

* * *

It happened again a few hours later.

"Let's race again!" she said, bouncing ahead of him.

"No." He continued striding evenly along. "I have humored you enough. That was your fourteenth loss in a row. You are defeated, miko."

"It hasn't been that many."

"It has actually been more. I have only counted the times in which you issued a formal challenge. The total is otherwise considerably higher." A calculating pause. "Additionally, according to your own nonsensical rule system you are now a labradoodle, a puggle, a chihuahua, an overweight cat, several different species of turtle, Naraku's uncle, and a rotten egg. Surely you do not need to humiliate yourself further."

"I finally made you say labradoodle," she grinned.

He huffed. "You are evading the subject. The subject being that you seem to pathologically enjoy failure."

"I told you, racing is about _fun_. And I'm getting better," she argued. "Not good enough to beat _you_, of course, but with someone like you to practice with, soon I'll be faster than all the other regular dogs!" With a laugh she added, "When I go back home, I should be a race dog."

The miko was nodding to herself, tail waving back and forth in wide sweeps, rambling on about how her grandfather liked to gamble on racing dogs and she would make her family rich because she was a good racer and a good dog (a good good dog!), so that it took her a minute to realize that Sesshoumaru had stopped again.

"What?" she said, half-turning to him, head cocked.

"You will no longer be a dog by the time you return to your home," he said slowly. "You will be a slow and clumsy human girl with two legs. You cannot race with dogs."

The miko blinked for several moments, and he could almost see her thoughts lagging half a step behind themselves as she worked her way through it.

"Right," she laughed, a little too brightly, "I know, I was just being silly. It was just a funny idea I had. I wished I was a greyhound so I could beat you, and then the thought of me as a track dog was just too funny not to share. Don't you think it's funny?"

She didn't look like she found it funny anymore. She had _the _look again: the half-distracted, slightly disturbed look of someone who felt like something wasn't quite right but did not know why.

Sesshoumaru found it to be dreadful.

It was fortunate that Sesshoumaru was a strategist at heart and more clever than he liked to let on, so it was a few brief moments before the look was replaced by a dawning scowl. "Wait a sec," she said slowly, "did you just call me _clumsy?_ And as a _human?_ Oh! That's below the belt! You're so mean!"

"Yes," he agreed with ease and relief, and resumed walking.

"Human me is off-limits!" she informed him with a small huff, muzzle held high. "Everyone else already makes fun of human me, and you're too conceited to be that unoriginal."

Sesshoumaru puzzled over this. He was unaware the miko was subject to ridicule among her peers. Though she was indeed the most ridiculous creature in his acquaintance, he was under the impression that humans were generally a ridiculous species and had not believed this would be held against her. "I had thought mikos were highly respected in their human communities."

Kagome's smile was very thin, thin enough he thought it might break. "Yes. Well. You may not have noticed, but I'm a pretty useless miko."

He had not noticed.

Sesshoumaru was a seasoned warlord, this was the sort of thing he would surely have noticed.

His frown deepened as the sadness in her scent settled in her like an ache. This was an old wound, he realized. She smiled but the cut in her heart was old and very deep, and it still bled.

She had already bled to death on him once and Sesshoumaru had not cared for it, so he said, "It is foolishness to put weight on the opinions of others. They do not matter."

"I know," she mumbled softly, tail low.

"Do not be foolish, then."

She again acknowledged the superiority of his advice with a murmur of assent, but instead of relief the miko looked only more miserable. She practically curled in on herself. Sesshoumaru did not know what to make of this. The instructions were simple. He knew they were, because he always made it a point to not care about others or their opinions in any way.

"If you kill everyone who speaks ill of you, you will hear nothing but praise, he suggested as an alternative. "This one would assist with the killing if you ask it of me."

"Spoken like a true taiyoukai," she half-laughed, shaking her head. She gave him an unexpectedly fond look. "I can't be like you, Sesshoumaru," she said gently. "Social animal, remember?"

"Hn," he agreed with a small frown.

"I do know you're right. The problem is _they're_ right, too. It's true: I _am_ a lousy miko." Kagome sighed, ears drooping. "I'm useless."

And like that all his hard work at vexing her was undone. _Again_. Now _he_ was the one who was vexed. "You survived _me_," Sesshoumaru said in clipped syllables, rounding on her. "Is that not _enough?_ Those are excellent credentials for any human." At her surprised pause he pressed on, "Must I kill some mikos for you to show you how easily I can?"

"No, no!" she said quickly, "that ah, that really won't be necessary. I'll take your word for it."

"Good." Sesshoumaru reined in his youki, mollified, thought a bit disappointed that she didn't want any killing done. He would be happy to kill things for her. He _wanted_ to. Plus killing things would be so easy whereas finding helpful things to say was hard.

Kagome had been quiet for several long moments, digesting his words, but now she cautiously spoke up. "Was that an extremely roundabout way of complimenting me?" Her tail gave a small, hopeful wag.

Now Sesshoumaru saw the verbal trap he'd let himself fall into. Curses.

"If it consoles you to think so," he said with a sigh.

Kagome grinned widely, ears fluffed up. "It does."

He was glad.

It wouldn't last, he knew, because good things never did, but he was glad.


End file.
